The 22 ARC and the 22 Creedmoor are the two most interesting .224 centerfire cartridges to reach the factory market in years. Hornady introduced both in 2024, both began as wildcats, and both chase the same modern goal: heavy, high-ballistic-coefficient bullets rather than the screaming muzzle velocities of the .220 Swift or the .22-250. They just take different roads to get there, and the cartridge that wins on paper is not always the one you should buy. A MeatEater Caliber Battle and an Outdoor Life 3,000-round range test even reached opposite verdicts — proof that this matchup is decided by fit, not raw numbers.
Both fire .224-inch bullets in the 50-to-90-grain range, but the brass is nothing alike. The 22 ARC is a necked-down 6.5 Grendel: a 1.525-inch case with a .441-inch head, about 34.6 grains of water capacity, and a 2.260-inch overall length built for AR-15 magazines. Factory ammo is held to a 52,000 PSI maximum average pressure so it stays safe in gas guns. The 22 Creedmoor is a 6.5 Creedmoor case necked to .224: 1.920 inches long, .472-inch head, 52.6 grains of water capacity — roughly 40 percent more powder behind the same bullet. SAAMI-spec twists are 1:7 for the ARC and 1:8 for the Creedmoor, both fast enough for 80-grain hunting and match bullets and, in the right conditions, the 88-grain ELD-M. Shooters had wildcatted both for years before Hornady standardized them: 6.5 Grendel brass necked into the 224 Grendel, and 6.5 Creedmoor brass necked into the 22 Creedmoor.
The Creedmoor wins the velocity race on paper. MeatEater lists Hornady factory data from 24-inch barrels: the 80-grain ELD-X at 3,285 fps in the Creedmoor versus 3,010 fps in the ARC, and the gap stretches past 300 fps with 70-grain-class bullets. Outdoor Life's Tyler Freel, after thousands of rounds through 18-to-22-inch rifles, measured factory Creedmoor loads 150 to 250 fps faster than comparable ARC loads — at the cost of about 30 percent more powder per shot.
Handloading closes most of that gap. The ARC is throttled to 52,000 PSI for AR compatibility, but bolt-action reloaders can run it harder; Freel got hot-rodded ARCs within about 150 fps of factory Creedmoor velocity. His most consistent ARC accuracy with 80-grain bullets sat between 2,900 and 3,000 fps, while the Creedmoor grouped best from 3,050 to 3,150 fps — push it past 3,200 fps and flyers appear in 20-shot aggregates. That speed also costs barrels: most 22 Creedmoor barrels last 1,200 to 1,900 rounds, while the ARC should deliver 2,000 to 3,000-plus.
Downrange, the gap shrinks further. In Freel's drop-and-drift data with 80-grain ELD-X loads in a 10 mph wind, the Creedmoor needed about 0.4 mil less elevation at 500 yards, and wind drift stayed within roughly 0.3 mil — about one minute of angle — at 1,000 yards. His full 22 ARC review and moose-hunt video are worth watching before you buy.
The 22 Creedmoor uses the standard short-action bolt face, feeds from any 6.5 Creedmoor or .308-pattern magazine, and drops into the existing Tikka, Savage, and custom-rifle ecosystem. It recoils like a .243 Winchester, roughly 10 to 12 foot-pounds. The 22 ARC needs the smaller .441 PPC bolt face, is undersized for standard short actions, and has fewer flush-fit bolt-gun magazine options: Ruger's American uses AR Grendel magazines, while MDT's metal ARC and Hawkins' Hunter magazines are the reliable AICS routes. In return you get AR-15 compatibility — a 22 ARC barrel plus a 6.5 Grendel bolt turns an existing lower into a flat-shooting semiauto with .223-like recoil of 4 to 5 foot-pounds.
Factory ammunition still favors the Creedmoor. MeatEater counted ten 22 Creedmoor loads at MidwayUSA versus five for the ARC, with Nosler joining Hornady on the Creed side while Hornady remains the sole ARC source. Prices run about $2.20 to $5.50 per round for the Creedmoor and $1.42 to $1.90 for the ARC, so the smaller cartridge is noticeably cheaper to feed.
The two tests picked different winners, and that is the most useful finding in this debate. MeatEater chose the 22 Creedmoor for the typical factory-ammo hunter who wants maximum velocity from a standard bolt rifle. Freel, a reloader who shot both for thousands of rounds, favors the 22 ARC for its consistency, efficiency, and mild recoil — he has killed black bear and moose with it. If you shoot factory ammo or already own a short-action bolt gun, the Creedmoor is the pick. If you handload, shoot high volume, or want a long-range AR-15, the ARC delivers most of the real-world performance for less money, less powder, and a fraction of the recoil. Both are proven varmint-to-deer cartridges — decide on the platform, and the cartridge chooses itself.